71–80 of 146 posts
That is super cool. But admittedly when I saw the title i was hoping for a mini version of those massive flipboard signs. Those things are amazing.
There's a great Github project for building your own Splitflap/Solari displays from the ground up for $20 each https://github.com/scottbez1/splitflap
Hey folks, balena.io founder here, just chiming in to mention that Chris is one of our Hardware Hackers in Residence, and if you think that doing HW projects with all sorts of cool technologies and writing them up for the world is your dream job, we're hiring! https://balena.workable.com/j/27A101659C Happy to answer any balena (or train station sign) related questions, of course :)
No question, just wanted to say thank you for Etcher.
I need one of these, but showing my upcoming meetings. Then I need it to start blinking when I'm supposed to be somewhere besides my desk.
There's still a problem I don't know solve well, holistically. When you do something with UI there's inputs from humans (buttons, knobs, etc), the network and timers. I'm completely lost how to coordinate that, especially when I use an LED/OLED display.
How to make sure a single screen is displayed long enough to be readable? But on the other hand how to react to all inputs? And how to deal with some inputs/triggers being more and less important (e.g. "modal" screens over static screens)? Also how to make sure not to get lost in the threading mess that I just created? The cherry on top is, some inputs require "short term memory" -- like patterns of button pressing (double/triple press/long hold) or rotary encoders.
In the end I give up implementing a lot of features.
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Yes, and Electron allows people to use JavaScript and CSS which simplifies cross-platform software development.
I hate Electron apps as much as the next person, but it's indisputable that to get a simple desktop app deployed, Electron is easier, and to me that signifies that it serves a purpose, at least in the prototyping space. I have like 10 ESP32's lying around my house, they're fun to tinker with, but my Raspberry Pis get a lot more attention from me because there is a substantially lower cognitive overhead with them than…
Easier than what? Considering you have to use the already ill-suited for UI HTML/CSS/JS cesspit, I'd say Electron is a lot worse for the "simple desktop app" than something like Lazarus.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, and Electron allows people to use JavaScript and CSS which simplifies cross-platform software development.
I hate Electron apps as much as the next person, but it's indisputable that to get a simple desktop app deployed, Electron is easier, and to me that signifies that it serves a purpose, at least in the prototyping space. I have like 10 ESP32's lying around my house, they're fun to tinker with, but my Raspberry Pis get a lot more attention from me because there is a substantially lower cognitive overhead with them than…
Very cool but I find a pi is overkill for something like this. ESP8266 or ESP32 would work just as well.
Pi Zero Ws are $10, ESP32 dev boards are $12. Why pick the more expensive one AND spend more time writing the software?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I hate Electron apps as much as the next person, but it's indisputable that to get a simple desktop app deployed, Electron is easier, and to me that signifies that it serves a purpose, at least in the prototyping space. I have like 10 ESP32's lying around my house, they're fun to tinker with, but my Raspberry Pis get a lot more attention from me because there is a substantially lower cognitive overhead with them than…
> I hate Electron apps as much as the next person, but it's indisputable that to get a simple desktop app deployed, Electron is easier Easier than what? Considering you have to use the already ill-suited for UI HTML/CSS/JS cesspit, I'd say Electron is a lot worse for the "simple desktop app" than something like Lazarus.
Hey folks, balena.io founder here, just chiming in to mention that Chris is one of our Hardware Hackers in Residence, and if you think that doing HW projects with all sorts of cool technologies and writing them up for the world is your dream job, we're hiring! https://balena.workable.com/j/27A101659C Happy to answer any balena (or train station sign) related questions, of course :)
I haven't used balena but I have worked with other IoT SAAS companies in the past. All these services seem rather expensive for what you get. Other than creating an easy way to push OS updates to field devices what would I get from your service?
Having built a similar bespoke stack in the past, Balena would have been a steal! It gives you the development, provisioning, build & deployment, configuration, management, and even remote debugging workflows out of the box. On top of that, it's built to require web/cloud developer skills, not embedded skills.
To do that, we have created several companies worth of infrastructure, from a cross-architecture container build system, to a bespoke OS supporting many device types, customized docker engine for embedded use cases, container deltas for bandwidth saving, etc. Even simple things like "how do I make sure my device gets DNS in an arbitrary home network" are incredibly tricky, and balenaOS gets it right almost always.
Which brings me to my next point. We are fanatical about support. We take responsibility for our customers succeeding, which means we constantly find and improve sources of friction. Using Balena gets you that backup team, but most importantly gets you hooked up to the flow of improvements we make all the time. Cloud companies charge $15 per server per month for various devops type services. We do very similar things but for devices that are smaller, more diverse, in tougher conditions, with less reliable networking, and ask for just $1 per device per month.
In other words, when I was in the shoes of our customers, producing even a fraction of the value and piece of mind that Balena provides in house took a lot of work, which was money, and that's not accounting for the time and risk of not getting there in the end. If I found myself in that situation again, knowing Balena and not using it would essentially be negligent. Our most fanatical customers are those who have tried to build something like it themselves, because infrastructure is so easy to underestimate.